There's Still a Heart in Heartless
by Dark Ride
Summary: A collection of one-shots written for Nathalie Appreciation Week back in October 2017. Spoilers for S2. Mostly gen but some one-shots have references to either a love square or GabeNath.
1. Chapter 1

**Day 1** : "I don't get paid enough for this nonsense."

* * *

The traffic was bad. Nathalie checked the time and suppressed a groan. If they were stuck for another fifteen minutes, she would miss her train to Calais and the deal she had spent months negotiating for _Gabriel_ could easily fall through.

What even was holding up the traffic? She had checked before leaving and it hadn't been particularly bad. She had certainly left big enough time reserve for the car to make it to Gare du Nord in time to catch her train. It had been only a few minutes earlier that they stopped moving.

When her tablet pinged with one very specific alert, Nathalie didn't even have to look to check.

Of course.

An Akuma.

Working for a workaholic, high-strung fashion designer was bad enough. When that same man was also the Paris' current public enemy number one, things got even worse. And when that man didn't even have enough consideration to remember that his overworked and underappreciated assistant - who, it sometimes seemed, was the only one keeping the legal side of his business running smoothly - was traveling to close a deal and made an Akuma who just **had** to delay the traffic en route... well, Nathalie prided herself on cursing only rarely but she was coming close.

While she mentally composed a very strongly worded letter of complaint to her employer, she was also trying to calculate just how much her schedule would be thrown off by this. She could catch a later train, they ran every two hours after all, but that would waste her time reserve for Calais. She would still be on time but barely. And that was only if no delay occurred in the other city.

*thump*

The car shook as something heavy fell down nearby. Nathalie looked out of the window just in time to see the resident Parisian superheroes arrive and immediately engage in combat with the bright orange, roughly human shaped Akuma. The battle was taking a heavy toll on the road and cars and people were evacuating their vehicles with considerable speed.

Stuffing her tablet into her briefcase, Nathalie opened the door and stepped out. Depending on how long the battle took, she would be better off trying to catch metro to the station.

She barely took one step away from the car when the Akuma crashed down a few meters in front of her. They seemed to be muttering something to themselves. A purple outline of a butterfly appeared around their eyes and Nathalie scowled. Quickly checking around for any eavesdroppers and finding none, she made brief eye-contact with the man who was a safe distance away and watching through the Akuma's eyes.

"I'm going to be late because of you," she said, very calmly considering the circumstances. "You just couldn't have waited until I left Paris, could you?"

Before she could continue, though, both Chat Noir and Ladybug dropped down between her and the Akuma. Chat looked at her with worried eyes.

"You should leave the area, Na-Mademoiselle. It's not safe here."

Nathalie gave a brief nod and started briskly walking towards the nearest metro station. She would somehow deal. That was what she did every day.

She had just barely managed to catch her original train. Turned out the Akuma had damaged part of the tracks and it took an half an hour for Ladybug to finally repair the damage. The deal negotiations and the contract signing went off without a hitch. She managed to catch the last train, which was a good thing, since she had left her overnight bag in the car back in Paris.

She briefly considered waiting until the next morning to confront Gabriel but she knew herself well enough that she would lose most of her anger by then. Unsurprisingly, he was still awake, standing in his study and looking at the portrait of his wife. He turned around when Nathalie walked in and for a moment he looked almost sheepish.

"I trust everything went well?" he asked. Nathalie put the folder with the signed contract on his table.

"No problems in Calais," she said. "No thanks to you, sir."

"Nathalie," he said warningly but Nathalie shrugged it off.

"Next time you decide to make an Akuma, try and remember if there is any time-sensitive business happening in regards to your company. The company, I might add, which is helping you fund your extra-legal activities." She pulled out another folder and laid it down. "Which reminds me, this is my official request for a higher pay. I'm putting up with too much nonsense as it is, a higher salary is the least you can do. Have a good night, sir."

She left before he could say anything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 2:** Day Off

I tend to project on Nathalie a lot and when I was thinking on what would I do to relax in her place, well, the answer's obvious. Also, I used these vignettes to work out my feelings about S2 revelations...

* * *

Nathalie pulled the trigger and watched as the enemy's foremost fighter went down, her kill count moving up by another point.

"Damn, Heartless, you're brutal today." Jinxo's voice held a lot of admiration. Nathalie didn't blame him. She had always pulled her weight on the team, but she had never been the most efficient player, either; her lack of time to play and practice was obvious.

"I had a bad week," she said and focused on providing cover while LadyBird - their medic - healed Ashai, who had as usual overestimated her character's endurance.

"Don't you always?"

Nathalie nodded, even though no one was in her apartment to see. They would have been surprised if they did. Relaxing for Nathalie meant getting as far away from her work image as possible. That's why her hair was down not just figuratively but also literally. And why she was dressed in an old tracksuit and worn out T-shirt of a band she had liked as a teenager.

"This one was especially bad," she said at last when it became clear Jinxo was expecting her to answer. "There were three deadlines we had to meet, someone in the requisition messed up an order and it got delayed and we had two Akuma attacks at the place."

"Why do you keep working there?" Ladybird asked as she moved cautiously forward. "You seem to be good at your job and you could probably easily find another."

"The money's good," Nathalie replied, naming the least important reason. She had only ever talked to these people when they were playing. They knew she held some sort of a managerial position but anything beyond that was kept vague.

"Enough chatter," Ashai cut in. "We have a game to play."

Nathalie tried to focus on the game but Ladybird's question kept repeating in her mind. Most likely because of her name's obvious inspiration by Ladybug. Why hadn't she walked out yet?

She knew why. It was not because Gabriel would try to stop her because of her knowing too much. At this point, either of them moving against the other would assure nothing but mutual destruction so they kept working together.

It was also not because she was helping to mitigate the situation at least a little for Adrien. For all she tried to do for him, she was constantly falling short. A few kind gestures here and there didn't make up for the deception she was committing.

No, if she was entirely honest with herself, she was staying because to do otherwise would be to fail. And Nathalie couldn't allow herself to fail. She would see things through to the end, one way or another.

"This was a good run," Ashai's voice broke into her musings. Nathalie blinked. She had just played a better part of their run on a mental autopilot and judging by her score, she hadn't done too bad.

 _I don't allow myself to fail, huh?_

"Same time next week?"

"Sure, I'll be there," Nathalie said and after the others voiced their agreement, she turned off the game and buried her face into her hands.


	3. Chapter 3

**Day 3:** Fashion Week

Nathalie is a HBIC and no one can convince me otherwise. Also, content warning for sexual harassment.

* * *

Nathalie loved the chaos that ruled behind the scenes of a fashion show. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that she loved the way the said chaos was turned into an orderly display for the audience. She thrived at the challenge of making sure that all those little things that could go wrong, didn't.

She was doing her rounds and checking up on the make-up stations when she was accosted by someone. The person did it by tapping her shoulder, which wouldn't have been unusual, considering the noisy atmosphere, except their hand remained on her shoulder.

Nathalie turned around, shrugging off the hand in the process. The person turned out to be one of the male models, who was only vaguely familiar to her. That meant he wasn't one of the permanently employed models for the company. He was conventionally attractive in that tall, dark and handsome way and by the way he was grinning at her, he was well aware of his own looks.

"Yes?" she asked. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there is," he replied and leaned closer to her. "I don't know yet if you'll go out with me for an after-show drink."

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. That was, well, not unexpected, truth be told. Now and then, she would be hit on by some of her temporary coworkers and she had learned to differentiate between those attempts. There were the genuine offers, which were the rarest. There were those who thought to gain a work advantage through her. And there were those who found her reputation of business first and always to be a challenge. This man seemed to be in the latest category.

"I don't date coworkers," she stated and was about to turn and continue on her way when he grabbed her arm. Handsy one, eh? "Please, unhand me."

"C'mon, give me a chance. What's so bad about a drink?"

They were gathering audience and maybe that was what he was counting on. Women usually went along in order to avoid a scene but a half an hour before the show, Nathalie was the supreme ruler of this place and she had no problem causing a scene. Not when she still had so many things to do.

"Did you read your contract? The one you signed when the company hired you for tonight?"

"Why? Was there something about how I can't invite you out?"

Nathalie allowed herself a small smile.

"Close enough. There is a clause forbidding harassment of any kind towards your colleagues. You asked, I said no, you persisted and initiated an unwanted physical contact. That falls under a company definition of sexual harassment and this is your first and only warning."

She enjoyed his flabbergasted expression for a moment and then turned her back on him.

"Frigid bitch!"

She probably wasn't meant to hear it. Too bad for him. She pulled up the files of the models who were to work tonight, both permanent and temporary and found him. He was generic enough that if she shuffled two other models around, they would be able to cover for his turn, as well.

Having checked that, Nathalie then paged security and directed them to escort the man out.

"We are no longer in need of your services," she told him as blandly as she could. She heard someone in the background clap and she raised her voice to be heard. "We have twenty-five minutes left until the start. Sebastian, Matvey, each of you will walk one of his turns, get to the wardrobe to see if you need any adjustments. Move it, people."

The scene melted back into its usual chaos and Nathalie nodded to herself with a satisfaction. All was as it should be.

* * *

A bonus, cracky ending that didn't fit the tone of the rest of the story.

 **Gabriel:** Did you just fire one of the models?

 **Nathalie:** He deserved it.

 **Gabriel:** He must be very upset.

 **Gabriel:** …

 **Gabriel:** I'm going to step out for a bit.

 **Nathalie:** We have ten minutes before the biggest fashion event of the year starts. You're not missing it to turn some loser into an Akuma.

 **Gabriel:** Excuse me?

 **Nathalie:** You heard me. You move one step towards the lair and Ladybug herself won't be able to put you back together after I'm done with you.

 **Gabriel:** Ten minutes until the start, correct?

 **Nathalie:** That's what I thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Day 4:** Adrien

This one was planned out almost two weeks before the new episodes aired so to find out it is actually sort-of canon-compliant was nice. Love square is mentioned but not a focus.

* * *

The ladybugs flitted all over the place, restoring it to what it had been like prior to the Akuma attack. Nathalie watched as her computer screen repaired itself, already turned on and displaying the security feed.

She looked over at the door to Gabriel's office. If his pattern held out, he would come back to the room in about five minutes. It gave her enough time to check that Adrien was safely back in his room, together with his girlfriend.

She knocked at the door, listening to the hurried shuffling from the other side before Adrien opened it. He was still flushed and winced guiltily when Nathalie looked him over.

"It's over now, right?" he asked. Nathalie nodded.

"Yes, it is," she replied and looked over his shoulder. "Where is Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?"

There was a crash from further in the room and then the flustered form of Adrien's girlfriend of two weeks appeared behind him.

"I'm here, sorry, I tripped."

Nathalie looked from one to the other, making them both squirm.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "You both look rather... strange," she said. She caught the flash of panic that crossed their faces. If she had ever wondered about whether the girl knew, Nathalie was sure now. As for her other suspicion, she preferred not to think about it too much. Carrying the knowledge about Gabriel and Adrien was bad enough on its own, she didn't need a third person added to the mix.

"We're fine," Adrien hurried to reassure her. "We just, uhm-"

"We were making out," Marinette blurted out. "Adrenaline and stuff, you know? Heh." She added a weak laugh at the end. Nathalie had to hand it to her, it wasn't a bad excuse. Still, if the girl was going to cover for Adrien (and possibly herself - _don't think about it_ ), she needed to get better. And embarrassment was a good motivator.

"I see," Nathalie said. "Just remember that condoms are in the upper left drawer of your nightstand, Adrien. You don't want to get carried away and forget about possible consequences."

Both teenagers flushed. Nathalie gave them both one last look and went back to her desk. Just as she sat down, the door to Gabriel's office opened and the man himself stood there.

"Adrien is in his room?" he asked. Nathalie nodded. Gabriel hmmed and turned to go back inside.

"Sir, if I could talk to you for a moment?" Nathalie spoke quickly. "It's about your **project**."

He noticed the emphasis she put on the last word and although he frowned, he gestured her in. She took a deep breath and then let it out as she followed him into his office. This confrontation was long overdue.

"Well?" He looked at her expectantly.

"It's about the recent Akuma attacks. They seem to have one thing in common. All of them were Adrien's fans who were disappointed at the announcement of his dating. Something should be done about that."

"I can hardly ask Adrien to break up with his girlfriend," Gabriel said and Nathalie blinked. Was he serious?

"Or maybe you could stop Akumatizing his fangirls," she snapped out. "That would be effective enough, I think."

"Nathalie, you know why I'm doing this."

"Yes, but just because I agree with your goal, doesn't mean I have to approve of your methods." She took a deep breath and then- "You do know that Adrien is Chat Noir, don't you?"

Gabriel pursed his lips and looked away from her. Nathalie sighed.

"If you know, why don't you just take his ring from him? He doesn't suspect you, it would be quite easy. Or-" she had to swallow against the bile rising in her throat at what she was about to suggest but she forced herself to continue. "-or I could take it from him in your stead."

Gabriel shook his head.

"I can't." He held up a hand when he saw her ready to interrupt. "I don't want him to know I am Hawkmoth. If either of us took his ring, he would know and I don't want that. I'm not going to hurt him more than is necessary."

Not for the first time since she had gotten involved in this mess, Nathalie wondered how one man could be so contradictory.

"You don't want to hurt him with the knowledge of your identity but you are perfectly fine sending out superpowered monsters to fight him. That's insane."

"I heard there is a thin line between a genius and insanity."

He probably meant it as a quip, a way to deflect her criticisms. Nathalie never felt less like laughing. She knew she wasn't going to get through to him on the main issue. So a partial victory then.

"You could at least stop using him as a bait. There are millions of people out there, next time choose an Akuma who wouldn't target him as Adrien."

Gabriel mulled this over briefly before nodding.

"That's acceptable. It's not like those Akumas were any more successful than others, either."

"No, sir, they weren't," Nathalie quietly agreed and stood up. "I need to get back to my work."

"Of course," he said. He opened his mouth, closed it again and finally spoke up. "Your concern for Adrien is appreciated. I'll remember that."

"Thank you, sir," she replied and walked out. She sat down at her desk and looked over at the video feed from the security cameras. Adrien and Marinette left his room and were in the outside garden. They were laughing over something, carefree and happy and Nathalie felt like an intruder on that moment. At least that feeling was easily remedied.

She clicked off the camera and the small screen faded into blankness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Day 5:** Bored at Work

* * *

Nathalie rarely found herself in a situation such as this one.

She was watching the screen of her computer and the currently ongoing antivirus scan because she had nothing better to do.

Her work for the day had been done an hour ago. Everything that needed to be scheduled had been scheduled and double-checked. All telephone calls had been made, emails had been sent, reports had been typed up... There was nothing left to do for her.

There was the conference call with one of their suppliers but that was going to be in two hours and she couldn't move it to earlier because of the time difference.

Nathalie tapped her fingers against the top of her desk. She wasn't used to being bored. Her usual day was a steady flow of activity, with every minute carefully utilized. She was regularly walking a tightrope between a hurried work routine and a nervous breakdown. And she liked it that way.

She very briefly entertained the thought of playing some sort of a game - an ordinary Solitaire would do - but she had once busted an employee's ass for the same and she wasn't going to be a hypocrite.

What to do?

She knew that she was a workaholic. And a perfectionist. And an overachiever. She made herself a schedule for her days off, for crying out loud! But this was getting ridiculous. She shouldn't be getting this worked up over the fact she didn't have anything work-related to do.

Maybe she could... well, it was going to be a fine line but maybe she could use the time to take care of some semi-personal business. Her job made her a representative of the company so it technically counted as work-related.

Five minutes later, Nathalie had moved her hairdresser appointment - the coloured streak in her hair required some maintenance - to a new date. She had also reorganized and updated the contacts in her phone.

And she was bored again.

When the phone rang, she almost threw herself over the table to answer it.

"Nathalie Sancoeur speaking."

"Everything is ruined!" a familiar voice cried out and Nathalie sighed in relief.

"Calm down, Vincenze and tell me what's wrong."


	6. Chapter 6

**Day 6:** Hero/Villain

This one is a doozy. Probably my favourite entry written for the week and that's counting the one I wrote for Day 7. It's also dark. Not to the point of mature rating or anything but there are mentions of some heavy themes. The premise is basically that Hawkmoth won and how that's not a good thing.

Also, this is the Gabriel/Nathalie chapter... kind of.

Also also, while it may not seem to be compliant with the info we got in Robostus (seeing as I wrote this before that episode aired), I have an explanation which makes it canon compliant and which will be given in the sequel I am writing. Yes, I love this one-shot so much I am writing more for it :)

* * *

Nathalie hated the new family dinner tradition.

"How was your day, Adrien?"

"It was fine, Pére. I did well at my fencing practice and Monsieur D'Argencourt said I'm more than ready for the tournament next week."

It was an obscene parody of what should have been and the worst part was that she had contributed to it, helped it to happen. Not just allowed it to happen. Actively worked to make it possible. If she had known how things would turn out...

"What about you, Marinette?"

"I worked on that design we discussed. It should be ready tomorrow."

Nathalie took a fortifying sip from her wine. Barely a month and she was already trying to drown her guilt. That she was allowed to remember what had been before was supposed to be a reward. Her mind and memories would stay her own, not rewritten by the combined powers of three Miraculouses.

She wished more than anything that she had had the foresight to refuse it all at the beginning. Maybe then none of this would have happened.

"Are you okay, Nathalie?"

She raised her head to find that all three stopped eating and were looking at her. Adrien's and Marinette's expressions were that of a polite concern which was probably the most emotional Gabriel allowed them to be. As for Gabriel himself, he was studying her with a calculating gleam in his eyes. One misstep, one badly spoken word and reward or not, she would wind up with her personality magically rewritten.

"Just thinking about work," she said calmly. "The spring line is ready to be launched and I'm trying to remember if there's anything left to do."

"Weren't you the one who used to subtly remind me that a family dinner is not a place to think about work?" Gabriel asked. Nathalie kept her face impassive with some effort. Was that a threat or not?

"I seem to be picking up your bad habits," she replied. "My apologies. What were we discussing again?"

She made sure to pay more attention to the conversation from then on. Not that anything important was said. It was just the sort of banal chit-chat the normal families usually engaged in. Except the four of them were definitely not a family, either normal or any other kind.

* * *

When Chat Noir and Ladybug had ambushed Hawkmoth in his lair, they hadn't been properly prepared. All it had taken for for Gabriel to lose his transformation to throw Chat Noir off his game. And when the boy had detransformed to demand an explanation of his father, it had been enough of a distraction to allow Nathalie to stealthily inject Ladybug with a tranquilizer.

Gabriel had taken their Miraculouses and added them to his own, unleashing a monstrous amount of power in the process. The expression of triumph on his face when he had repaired all the damage with a wave of his hand still haunted Nathalie's nightmares.

He had finally succeeded. But when he had attempted to do what had been ostensibly his purpose all along, it hadn't worked. All that power at his command and it hadn't mattered at all. He had put his obsession ahead of everything and it hadn't even worked!

 _This is the end of it,_ Nathalie had thought back then. _He will surely give up now. There will be a lot of work to repair his relationship with Adrien, if it even can be done, but it's finally over._

She had never been more wrong.

 _Power corrupts. And absolute power? That corrupts absolutely._

The shock wave of rage-born power had swept over the city before coming back and concentrating on the two teenagers who had opposed him so long. Nathalie had feared for them but they had appeared unharmed. Gabriel had used magic to take them into Adrien's room and left them asleep on Adrien's bed.

"He is the only thing of her I have left," he had said. "This time I will make sure he won't rebel."

"What did you do?" Nathalie had asked, despite being afraid of the answer.

"I used magic to subdue his rebellious streak. The girl's, too. She will keep him company and make him happy."

"What about her parents? Won't they miss her?"

Gabriel had smiled.

"They won't remember her. I rewrote the memories of all within the city."

"I still remember, though," Nathalie had pointed out.

"You have been very loyal, Nathalie. I promise I won't ever use magic to affect your mind. A fitting reward, I hope?"

What else could she have said but thank you?

* * *

For everyone else in Paris, nothing had changed.

For Nathalie, everything had.

Gabriel was no longer the man she had once known. If she was honest with herself, he hadn't been that man for a very long time. She just hadn't wanted to see it. Her eyes were being opened every day, though.

She was the only one who remembered and she knew he wasn't happy. He was trying to fill the void in his life but even the power of the Miraculouses could only provide a fascimile, not a real thing.

Adrien and Marinette adored him because he had made them adore him. There was always that false current in their interactions with him and if Nathalie, who stood on the sidelines, could feel it, it must have been that much worse for Gabriel.

Maybe that was the true reason he had let her keep her memories. To keep at least one person in his life that wasn't magically influenced and thus remained genuine in her interactions with him.

But Nathalie knew this fragile balance couldn't last. Sooner or later something would give and that could very well send the whole world into a hell in a hand basket. Unless someone did something about it.

Nathalie knew she wasn't a hero. But this mess was in a large part her fault and so it was her responsibility to do something about it. No matter what it took.

* * *

When she had first thought of her plan, she had balked at it. She wasn't sure she could go as far as she needed but that one dinner reaffirmed her resolve. Those kids deserved better than to be some puppets in a pitiful man's play at happiness.

She had made an appointment with a hair-dresser. She got herself coloured contacts and different clothes. She obtained the necessary drugs. Step by step, she was getting closer to making things right.

The thing was, Gabriel was a man who was obsessive, prone to lying to himself and he was, above all, selfish. As long as he got what he wanted, he wouldn't care much about how it had been obtained.

Nathalie knew that he wanted his perfect family back and that it was through that angle she was most likely to succeed.

When she walked into his office that evening - after allegedly running errands in the city for the whole day - and saw his startled surprise and a dawning comprehension, she knew she had him.

"What is the meaning of this, Nathalie?" he tried to speak in a disinterested way but she could hear the hope underneath.

"I was thinking a lot," she said, the thick braid of her newly dyed hair brushing against her collarbone with every step she took.

"About?"

"Us. Our successful partnership. It didn't quite work out there at the end but even that can be remedied." She gestured at herself, her new appearance making it quite clear what she meant.

"I see. And you wouldn't find it demeaning? To play her role?"

Nathalie shrugged.

"After everything else I did for you, playing pretend is not going to be a problem." She walked over to the side table where she had had a bottle of wine delivered earlier. "Shall we toast to our new beginning?"

Her hands didn't shake as she opened the bottle and poured the rich red wine into two glasses. Slipping the drugs into his glass went smoothly, too.

"I thought you preferred white."

"Nathalie does, not me."

Something like regret seemed to flash through his eyes but it was gone quickly. He accepted the glass from her and they clinked them together.

"To us?"

"To us."

* * *

Finding the Miraculouses was surprisingly easy, at least for someone who knew the combination to the newly installed small safe in Gabriel's bedroom. Nathalie grabbed all three boxes and closed the door to the safe. Gabriel moved in his sleep and she froze for a moment but the drugs in combination with the physical exertion did their job well and he remained asleep.

She hurried through the quiet house to the lair, anxious to finish it now that the hardest thing was over. She picked the place because she felt it right to right her mistake in the place she had made it.

The lights of night-time Paris filtered through the window. The butterflies were all asleep and none stirred as she made her way into the centre of the room. With a deep breath, she opened the first box. Earrings. She put them on and watched the small red Kwami materialize. It took less than a second for the being to recognize her and scowl at her ferociously.

"You!"

"How can I make it better?" Nathalie asked and the Kwami hesitated.

"What?"

"How can I undo what he did with my help?"

The Kwami studied her for a long, unnerving minute before her expression softened.

"Do you have the other two?"

"Yes."

"Put their Miraculouses on."

The reaction of the other two was no warmer, although Nooroo seemed to almost smile at her before he caught himself. But the Ladybug Kwami rapidly spoke in some sort of strange language and they turned to Nathalie expectantly.

"You will need to wield all three of us at once, like he did. And then just will that all of this be undone."

"And it will work?" Nathalie tried to make sure. All Kwamis nodded and Nathalie took a deep breath. She was going to make this right.

"Nooroo, dark wings rise..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 7:** Secrets

The last one. I hope you all enjoyed this one-shot collection and that this one won't be an exception.

Content notice for a brief, non-graphic description of a pepper-spray assault.

* * *

There were days when Nathalie hated her job. After months of Adrien pleading and Chloé Bourgeois throwing her father's name and position around, Adrien was to be enrolled in a public school. All the paperwork had been done, supplies had been obtained, lectures had been made on proper behaviour. You could practically see the joy shining out of the boy's eyes.

And then Gabriel suddenly decided to take it all back. No explanation, just his usual 'my will shall be done'. It was one of the few times Nathalie had dared to voice her disagreement but Gabriel had shut her down with the flimsy reasoning of wanting Adrien to be safe.

Needless to say, Nathalie wasn't in the best of moods when she got home that evening. She was angry, frustrated and tense. So it was perhaps logical that her reaction to seeing a tall figure in her living room - a tall, decidedly male figure with a cane and wearing an ugly mask with an even uglier tuxedo of some sort - was to reach into her pocket, pull out her pepper-spray, release the safety and spray the unknown intruder right in that ugly mask.

As the man crumbled to the ground with a torrent of pained cursing, Nathalie pulled out her phone and got ready to call the police. While what she had done was not strictly speaking legal - technically, she had attacked first - she suspected she might get some leeway for pointing out that the man had worn a mask and had somehow got into her locked and secured flat.

"Wait! Don't!" the man pleaded as he squinted up at her, tears flowing from his reddened eyes. "I can explain."

"You can explain it to the police," she told him and pushed the call button.

"Dammit! Nooroo, dark wings fall!"

There was a flash of purplish light and the suit and the mask seemingly disintegrated into nothingness, leaving behind someone very familiar. Nathalie ended the call and slowly put away the phone.

"I really hope the explanation is good," she said in her most biting voice. "Sir."

* * *

After providing the first aid care for her boss she had accidentally maced, Nathalie prepared some coffee. She really needed some caffeine boost, especially when that small, purplish thing that Gabriel had introduced as Nooroo softly asked for some fruit juice. Gabriel himself was still washing out his eyes with the water and detergent solution that was recommended as the most effective means of getting the capsaicin oil from the spray neutralized.

Nooroo was watching her and Nathalie did her best to act as if assaulting her boss over a case of mistaken identity and encountering an unknown talking and flying being was something that happened to her every Tuesday.

"Nathalie?"

She didn't turn around and waited until he sat down across from her before she pushed a cup of coffee towards him. He looked awful and maybe if she didn't feel so irritated, she would be pitying him. As it stood, though, she couldn't muster anything more than a vague feeling of concern and even that was overshadowed by her worry about her own future.

"You promised an explanation."

"Don't you have something to say first?" he asked. Nathalie rolled her eyes.

"If you expect me to apologize for reacting the way I did to a strange man in a weird costume waiting for me in my living room, we're going to be here for a long time."

"I see."

He was quiet after that, most likely struggling with his pride. But he wanted something from her. Something that necessitated him coming to her outside of the house and the office. She saw the moment he reached his decision.

"Do you believe in magic?" he asked at last. Whatever opening statement she had expected, it had not been that one. She opened her mouth to say no but then she remembered how his appearance had changed after he had uttered words that had sounded like a practiced phrase.

"I don't know," she admitted. He nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

"It is very much real. There is a particular type of magic of which Nooroo is a representative. A Miraculous," he said almost reverently.

Okay. She could deal with this. Magic was real and that little thing was magical, too. But-

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm going to need your help. This type of magic, it's powerful. Powerful enough to do even the impossible. I believe that if I obtained more Miraculouses, I would be able to bring her back."

Nathalie didn't have to ask who was the her. And it made sense that Gabriel would go to such extraordinary lengths for her sake.

"I understand that but what do you need from me? You already have one of these... Miraculouses. I suppose I could do research on the others but you obviously know more about this than me."

"I already have a plan. This particular Miraculous is well-suited for locating others. What I need from you is a logistical support. Magic is unpredictable. There will be times I will have to be incommunicado. You would run interference for me, make-up excuses, provide alibis, things like that."

"Should I be concerned about the alibi comment?"

Gabriel smirked.

"My plan is not illegal. I was talking figuratively."

"Of course," Nathalie said but she wasn't particularly reassured. Something not being illegal was not the same as something being moral. If the existence of magic was relatively unknown, then it stood to reason there wouldn't be any laws concerning its use. It was a nice loophole.

"Things could get dangerous for a while," he admitted grudgingly. "Which is why I changed my mind about Adrien's schooling. My plan is about to start and I don't wish him to be caught in it. It's best if he stays mostly at home for now. Once I bring his mother back, he will be sent to school if he still wishes it."

Nathalie sloshed the rest of her coffee around the cup. Gabriel made a convincing case for himself. And if it reunited the broken family... It left only one question to be answered.

"Why all the theatrics with breaking into my home?"

Gabriel cleared his throat and she heard a very quiet giggle from Nooroo.

"I thought to demonstrate the magic to you. It obviously didn't work out that way."

Nathalie hummed in agreement. She should probably ask for a time to think the offer over. But over her time working for the Gabriel brand, she had come to like the family. And if she could help in restoring it... Adrien would be so happy.

"Very well, I'll help."

"I don't have to mention the need for discretion, do I?"

Nathalie threw him an offended look for that one. Like he had to ask.

* * *

She realized her mistake the moment Stoneheart went on a rampage across the city. Unfortunately, she had already agreed to help and she knew Gabriel wouldn't let her back out. She would just have to keep this secret and hope he would succeed as soon as possible.

The wait for it all to be over was going to be long.

* * *

 **A/N:** Gabriel getting punched is a running joke in my part of the fandom. And because I'm extra af, I had to up the ante somehow.


End file.
